1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a computer-aided-design (CAD) system, a design-support program for the CAD system, and design methods that employ the CAD system.
2. Description of Related Art
CAD systems use macro programs in order to improve design efficiency. As for conventional macro programs, an operation needed to form a certain shape is performed by the operating person, and the operation procedure is directly stored. It is also possible to describe the operation needed to form a certain shape in a language (a program language, a macro language) and store the description as a macro program.
When the macro program in a CAD system is activated, a stored operation procedure or a language-described program is executed. Then, the intended shape of the macro program is formed.
However, the conventional macro programs can only generate pre-stored shapes. It is very rare that a macro program stored in conjunction with a design drawing can be used for a different design drawing. If a library of macro programs regarding a variety of shapes is prepared, versatility in the design process will improve. However, preparation of such a library requires an enormous amount of time and effort.
If an operator makes a mistake in an operation procedure during the preparation of a procedure-storing macro program, the mistake of the operator is directly stored. If a description error occurs in a language-described type macro program, the error is directly stored in the program. Therefore, if such a macro program is activated, the error is reproduced, resulting in a waste.